February
FEB 1 Sunday
Dear Yraid,
Brother Bear. Mama and I watched it at the
SM Megamall Cinema 4 this morning. I liked it because it was rendered
using the old way of drawing by hand, you know, compared to Finding Nemo
which was (and even if it was) painstakingly computer-generated frame by
frame. It was right for Brother Bear to claim it was in the tradition of
The Lion King; truly, Brother Bear was just as entertaining and
heartwarming as The Lion King. Although it was not
'I-can't-wait-to-be-king'/ 'Hakuna-Matata'/
'Can-you-feel-the-love-tonight' as memorable as the latter. For one, I
can't remember any song. And another is... the movie was just too short,
maybe if they made it longer than an hour and 20 minutes it would be (or I
would have it) easily placed among the classics. Well, perhaps I was too
emotionally-engaged in such a limited time that I felt it was not enough.
Speaking of emotions, it was kind of Dumbo-ish but it wasn't able to
attain such prowess anyway. Yet, the turning point part (Koda's
storytelling) really went directly to my stomach and instantly out of my
tear glands. All in all, it was almost Ice-Age funny, almost The-Lion-King
striking, almost Dumbo dramatic, almost The-Land-Before-Time disturbing,
almost Lilo-&-Stitch adorable, and most of all, in-every-way-possible
lovable.
FEB 2 Monday
Dear Yraid,
I woke up. Made two concept papers for the upcoming Philosophy
Week. I slept. No. I overslept. Wasn't able to attend my own Philo
Discussion at the tambayan. Anyway. Special General Assembly meeting.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Huh. Brainfreeze. Who will our org support in
the CSSP-SC elections? Pamatay, I mean, it's a killer. Really had a hard
time deliberating these two. Esa Ilustrisimo vs Adam Reyes (for Philo
Department Representative). The winner was [confidential as of press
time]. Went down to council office. I was late for the Philo Core Group
meeting. Janice was asking for an umbrella theme for the Philo Week. I
suggested, "Philo. Week ko 'to." Just like McDonald's. Love ko 'to. But
I'm an environmentalist. So I don't, and I can't, love McDo. It's
complicated. Hmp. I promised Raya I will train today (Taekwondo). I wasn't
able to live up to that promise. The meeting with Janice ended at 7:10pm.
Our training (varsity team and club) is, or -- I mean and apologize to Raya
-- was at 5:30pm. Went to Mercury Drugstore. I had to drug myself. Wake up.
Oh yeah, I had to buy what my mama told me to buy. Some mineral water and
stuff.
FEB 3 Tuesday
Dear Yraid,
It is such a lovely day. I don't know... it just is. First of
all, I arrived earlier than my professor in my 10 o'clock class. I came in
10:16, she came in 10:24. Or something to that effect. She (and I) always
comes late. Hope she notices that. So. The usual. We jump from map
to map. Kidding not aside -- she really does it. Well, for two sessions
already, at least. And it kind of arouses my geographic brain sometimes.
Like once in a blue moon in class. Pee. I had to pee after class so Jema
came with me to the West Wing 2nd floor restroom. We talked about the
Ateneo School of Law application until we arrived at my tambayan. Tasyos
and Tasyas came, my kids, you see. Laughter was inevitable (because Lester
was there -- haha!). But serious talk was unavoidable as well. And then,
dandandandan, I went to our Journ 109 class. My completely
out-of-the-blue class this last sem of my life as an undergrad. And one of
the most amazing *wink*. I thought we were gonna discuss the comic book
script but no. The remaining websites were to be criticized and analyzed.
There were technical problems at first. Phew! But no, there was a divine
intervention. They connected. We got Net. The rest, shall I say, is
history. Skipping that happy part: I went to claim my grad
pic at Katips. Got a little jumpy walking through the street
beside The Barn. After I went in, the guy made me wait for a while. So I
just marveled at the small fishes swimming in the 4-inch high mini-pond.
The pictures were great. I even gave the guy a tip: 50 cents. It was
actually my debt to the Katips jeep manong because I thought the fare I
had to pay was only an Ikot fare. To make the long explanation short -- I
wanted to pay that manong through the guy. Okay? I went to Rustan's to buy
Gardenia bread. Then I made tawid-tawid (hehe). Then I went to the council
office to put the photocopied concept papers in Janice's pigeonhole (I
like this term. I like it the way I like the word 'perfunctory'.). Then
Jay, my batchmate in Kapitas, was there; he asked for a grad pic so I gave
him one after I autographed it, of course. He said our (i.e., this year's)
studio's better. Or was it just me? Mwehehehe.
FEB 4 Wednesday
Dear Yraid,
Rejection never felt better. My main objective this day is to follow-up on the
solicitation letters that we distributed to the mayor, vice-mayor, and
councilors of Quezon City. I was nervous to call at first. Maybe due to
fear of rejection. Maybe due to the thought that my voice cracked on the
phone (it always does, tsk tsk). Either way, I got the hang of it soon
enough that I got a good news on one of them. The receiving lady of
Hon. Delarmente said, "May ibibigay si councilor pero maliit
na tulong lang 'to; malaki yata hinihingi niyo e." My reply to her was
more than thankful. At least one out of the 10 politicians was eager to
help us rebuild our tambayans. Speaking of the tambayan, we held another
special meeting there to accommodate the pressing need of Adam to express
himself. Unfortunately, he got more than rejection from some of the people
there. He was too emotional on the matter; and it's more like he rejected
himself from the org. Diary or not, this case is not fit for relay. But I
stated some facts already. Whatever. At the end of the day, I saw
rejection even at Mang Jimmy's (it seems not the right way to use
the phrase "at the end of the day" doesn't it). Manong doesn't want the
eight of us to get a 4+3-something package. So we settled for the 5+1.
FEB 5 Thursday
Dear Yraid,
Hmmm... What did I do today... I attended a one-on-one meeting with
Janice for the Philo Week. But before that I dropped the org proposals
(for Prof. Vera Cruz to be our co-adviser and for Sir Nap to approve it)
and the Ateneo School of Law recommendation forms (to be accomplished by
the already mentioned professors) at the department. I also filed for a
TCG and a certification for graduation at the AS 101. Then I retrieved my
invitation for the US/CS Recognition Day at the SarDean's office-- the
staff there calls it that because it used to be the Dean's office, now
it's the really crowded office of the College Secretary-- near the AS
Lobby. When I went to the council office three freshies were asking Janice
on how to answer a Speculative Thought exam. I kinda helped when
I stated some philosophical stuff (like "how would you know if everything
doubled its size if you also doubled your size?" which I think was from
Russell if I remember my Philo 150 correctly, and about the relativity of
perception). After Janice and I reviewed the Philo Week activities I went
to the tambayan to give the kids updates and ask them for a shirt design. I
believe one of those designs was: BEWARE (front) I'M A
PHILOSOPHER (back). At last, I went to the gym to train. I happened to
be accompanied by a male orgmate who is a Judo Varsity player so when I
approached Raya and Nicole, in a duet but whispering, they gestured and said
"Boyfriend Mo?" Hehe. I told them it was our former Supremo's current bf.
And the four of us (Jim came later) trained at around past 6pm all by
ourselves without Sir Mats and the other Taekwondo pips. The UP Basketball
Varsity had the same practice hours as the UP Taek Team. -- bottomline?
Bruce Quebral can look directly into your eyes even through the mirror; I
told a friend once that Bruce does that to everyone without any particular
reason, like your special or anything. Anyway, after an hour we packed up,
ate some Cornets, and parted ways. While I was walking from the gym to the
checkpoint a van stopped by the road and the driver told me, "Need a
ride?" I didn't get scared; I just shook my head and he left. I laughed a
bit, still while walking alone, because the girls and I were talking just
before we parted ways about kidnapping.
FEB 6 Friday
Dear Yraid,
Maps in
Pol Sci 14 again. With Monk-Monk (my pink bag) on my desk as cover, I cut raffle tickets
in boredom. My blockmate beside me and I even exchanged notes, which were
mostly about the impending college elections. Then the usual, went to CR
after class, made tambay at the 3/f lobby until 2pm. After a pot-pot merienda, Aya and I
followed up on Prof. Vera Cruz's co-advisorship, which turned out pretty well. We waited
for him inside PH222, which confused a number of his students (they
thought twice before entering the room because they saw two purported
classmates). Our next stop: City Hall. And believe me, it didn't turn out
quite well. We only got P200 from more than a dozen politicos who received
our solicitation letters. When I was home I made another tambay, this time
with my dog, outside the house. Dollar was sick since January 1. He's not
as active as he used to be. In the past two days he partly collapses every
time he gets tired from walking or barking. To make him feel happier, Ma
and I let him ride in a tricycle with us to buy some pork barbecue. He
enjoyed the air and indeed he felt better. Dollar likes riding
tricycles. Once he even wanted to make "angkas" at the back
of the driver's seat because my cousins and I already occupied the interior.
At around 7pm I went to the gym to meet Raya because we're going to attend
Mitch's birthday party at the Imperial Palace Suites. Raya brought her car
(Raya, you drive like you're already used to it. Totoo!) with her orgmates at the
back and me in front. I'd say the party food was great. And the people
there were nice, even if I hardly know most of them, especially Raya's
orgmates Jonah, Maja, and Jo.
FEB 7 Saturday
Dear Yraid,
I never
thought it would be so much fun in a pet hospital. We brought Dollar to the UP Vet
because we thought his condition was getting worse. Turned out he only had
low white blood cells count (or a weak immunization system). His apparent fainting was nothing
to worry about anymore. In the waiting area we met Hugo, the hyperactive Labrador
puppy (his name fits him: Hugo-magulo). I also met Clara, the huge
German Shepherd. Dollar met many new-born puppies too, which he wanted
to toy with. As in "toy with" the way he wanted to toy with the cat in the
cage in the nearby chair. Total expenses: P1500. It was worth it anyhow;
at least Ma and I do not have to worry about Dollar. Besides, Ma's cousin
in the province is about to die of leukemia, my Tita Lina was about to
have her gall bladder removed, and Inang is on dextrose because she's
sick. Dollar's health status was relatively negligible. But I consider him
my brother that's why if he's sick, it's not negligible to me (and to Ma).
After lunch I went to UP to help in the org exhibit for the Philo Week...
which didn't come into being because -- it's a long story. I need to
shorten my diary entries from now on due to the fact that I haven't
started on my web pages and on my thesis. Mwehehe. ;>
FEB 8 Sunday
Dear Yraid,
It's been quite a relaxing Sunday.
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